Pioneer Readies High-Res Audio Portable

Pioneer plans an early-2016 launch of first high-resolution portable audio player portable in the U.S., the company said during CEDIA Expo.

Pioneer unveiled the Android-based portable at the September IFA show but hadn’t revealed U.S. availability or pricing, expected to be around $700.

To listen to high-res music on-the-go, the machined-aluminum XDP-100R portable will be available in two colors early next year. It and a planned model from sister brand Onkyo could be the first portables available to play back high-resolution MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) files.

Key features include ability to download apps from GooglePlay, play back video on the 4.7-inch 720p touchscreen, and play back such high-res formats as DSD 11.2MHz DSD and 192kHz/24-bit FLAC and WAV files with up-conversion to 384kHz/24bits. It also comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA to stream files from networked DLNA sources, Bluetooth with AptX, MicroUSB, 32GB embedded storage and two 128GB SDXC memory card slots. It also features a headphone amp with ESS DACs.

Via Wi-Fi, the Android Lollipop-based player will be able to download high-res 192/24 FLAC files direct from OnkyoMusic.com through a preloaded OnkyoMusic app. OnkyoMusic.com said it might also support MQA downloads because its runs on a platform built by 7digital, which plans to support MQA.